Word Clouds

I so enjoy the stuff Dave Pattern does with data and mashups, etc that I went to see what I could find to play with online.

I use 'play' in the sense of 'for work' of course! :-)

I had fun with Wordle - these are some word clouds I made, based on this blog. Possibly useful for library posters and suchlike (?) You have to Print Screen, paste into Paint, edit, etc...





And yes, you can change colours, layouts, etc - this one, for instance, is alphabetical..

I also tried TagCrowd, which has different parameters you can tweak, but does seem to remain alphabetical (although you can strim out common words, etc)

access ago although anon archive atom author best blocked blogger blogs book cardiff ceredigion change children clouds collaborative comments communication computing conference council course creative days discussion e-learning educational environment etc experience found free fun future goal google guide hours ict imagine individual information initiated instance integrated interactive interesting internet invite issue labels learning librarian library local love matter months moodle national net networking news online play pm pool possible posted rather read really resources search seems service simple site social something sounds staff story stuff subject talking teacher team thousands times twitter unblock useful video vle wales wave web

created at TagCrowd.com

Why not write a book?

I guess this blog does tend to sound rather dry at times - just as the image of a librarian remains rather 'dusty and old-fashioned' - but I spent my life as an enthusiastic sharer, and I have to share this with anyone who loves books.

For ten years now, thousands of people have set themselves the challenge of writing 50,000 fictional words in November.  A simple goal, really.  I didn't say easy!  Just simple to understand.

Like a marathon. Simple enough.  Run 26 miles, taking as long as you like.  Straightforward.  :-)

If this intrigues you (and the only prize is reaching the goal you set yourself) then visit NaNoWriMo (national Novel Writing Month).

Even if you don't want to write, right now, you can contribute funds towards outreach programs for young people; you can promote the event (buy the T-Shirt); spread the word.  To really feel a sense of completion, I even published my last two (using Lulu) and although I don't expect to sell any, I really enjoy the process of designing and laying out a book, commissioning covers from the fantastic Bobby Campbell, and eventually holding a real, tangible book in my hand!  Other spin-off fun came from making videos on my progress (the story so far...) and getting interviewed for NaNo radio, etc.  You will find a whole community of people meeting up for write-ins, and all sorts.

Update:  If you don't feel sure about the value of this experience, read this article at Edutopia, about the effect on schools and teachers of the Young Writers program...

Blogging for Librarians

I have just returned from a brief but informative workshop with Karl Drinkwater - Resource Discovery Officer at Aberystwyth University (and E-learning Adviser for Learning Resources at JISC RSC Wales).

In "Blogging Awareness" he took us through

• the possible uses of blogs (for individual or departmental announcements of services or news, for instance, or simply for internal collaboration and communication)
• the available sites that offer the service of hosting free blogs
• the pros and cons (conflicts of interest between ICT security issues and access, for instance, or corporate branding and 'the friendly face' of the staff...etc).
  
  Although I run several blogs (for my different 'hats') I learned some new things, and really should get to grips with RSS, for instance.
  
  He manages this website for Aberystwyth University, but here's an example of one of his blogs, Subject Support
  
  Unfortunately, this blog will not be accessible from Cardiff Libraries, as ICT recently blocked all blogs hosted at Blogger in response to a request from schools, after children were (presumably) found accessing inappropriate material.
  
  It's just my personal opinion - as I know children need to be protected - but that seems like banning all newspapers in libraries just because The Sun has Page Three girls. Surely you just stop offering The Sun in the libraries - you don't ban The Guardian, the FT, The Independent, etc? IMHO
  
  One by one I am getting harmless blogs unblocked, on request, but I have no idea how many useful, interesting and informative blogs get hosted on Blogger. Thousands? Tens of thousands? Millions?
  
  I would prefer that individual sites which were found to be offensive got blocked, rather than these big sweeping moves. Contentious stuff, of course, but at least we had a chance to air and discuss some of these problems.
  
  A very enjoyable course! Thanks Karl!

Playing and Learning in a VLE

As an enthusiast, I often forget that many people haven't started playing with the internet yet.

They may shop there, or do their children's homework, or chat, or seek true love, but haven't really begun to explore how much more we (as a human tribe in a global village) could do with it. But then again, many people don't consider themselves creative.

And, yes, I realise how irritating acronyms can prove.

VLE = Virtual Learning Environment

I feel my experiments in setting up elearning options for staff don't seem to attract people yet. I blame myself, not the Moodle / Learning Pool environment. As Michel Thomas points out, the burden of 'teaching failure' should lie with the teacher, not the student...

[update 13 Oct 09] Just to add to the confusion, some people use 'DLE'= Dynamic Learning Environment. For instance, you can view a conference presentation on Learning Pool, called "LP’s DLE: A Social Media Solution for Collaborative Working Within and Across UK Local Government" here:
(although staff in Cardiff can't watch Vimeo video at the moment).

So, accidentally coming across Producer (a free add-on to Powerpoint) has motivated me to attempt something a bit more interesting - and use video, screen grabs, sounds, etc to make staff training more interesting. It'll take a while, of course...but it does look a lot like Movie Maker, so perhaps I can crack it...

Meanwhile, the search goes on for a good way to transform Powerpoint to MPEG for our plasma screens. (sigh)

Ahead in the clouds

Cloud computing does seem to relate to Google Wave (and the way the Google team already works, apparently).

Centrally stored information, accessed through 'thin clients' from anywhere.

Apart from the days when the network is down, and you don't have much stored locally to play with, this does seem the way to go.

At the socitm09 annual conference you will find discussion of Cloud Computing and other interesting material...economies of scale for council ICT departments, which might depend on the use of newer interactive models, the unblocking of Social Networking for staff use, etc.

Fascinating stuff.

Social Networking ambiguity

Cardiff Council have apparently gone live with a Twitter service for citizens to get up-to-date news.

I say 'apparently' because the public can't actually look at Twitter in the public libraries, so it remains an imaginary service to me, right now. Oh wait! I can see it on the intranet, so will pass on examples as best I can, until the public get access. Sadly, links to other sites that Cardiff is 'following' (like Chapter Arts, for instance) remain blocked for now.

However, perhaps it will motivate the libraries to unblock the site for the public? Hard to tell, as Twitter by definition doesn't seem so much like something you need on your desktop, more something for mobiles...

However - watch this space for news of other social networking approaches to council (and particularly library) services.

Library Stream initiated a discussion on Twitter recently. Find them in my list of blogs in the column on the right.

Wave of the future

The hot news seems to involve Google's latest wonder - a totally integrated format of real-time communication called Google Wave. The implications for education (let alone entertainment) haven't really sunk in yet, but it seems ideally suited for remote learning.

A beta gets released to guinea-pigs later this month (a lottery) but later in the year it should emerge. Check out the preview

Although I can see uses for my e-learning tutor role, I suspect that if I get a beta account in the lottery I will use it for creative and collaborative interactions first. Me and my online 'gang' or 'posse' or whatever you call a tribe these days (we all seemed to call ourselves a 'reading group' when we met up in Berlin in July - sounds almost as tame as 'librarian' - heh heh [he cackles with eldritch rising organ music in the background]) well, we, ahem intend to test it to destruction, given half a chance.

As a motley crew with skills in various arts we do stretch and pull interactive processes in all directions. Currently we have a team blog, several individual blogs, a new Drupal forum and a couple of wikis running. Wave seems to have the possibility of integrating all these things seamlessly. The mind boggles.

Useful online file conversion service

Members of the public often arrive with files in formats not compatible with the library's computers. (wps files from Works, for instance).

Sometimes I can convert the files for users, but I try not to get involved.

I just discovered Zamzar, which converts all kinds of files to other formats, documents, images, music, etc.

So long as the user has an email address to receive the converted file, it works well.

And you can't argue with FREE.

Quiet Please!

It'll be great when we no longer work in a building site (not on a building site, but in it). The new library has been surrounded by jack hammers, bulldozers, drills, lorries and plenty of shouting for some time now.

In addition, of course, we have adopted a 'modern' approach of letting people eat, talk, receive mobile phone calls, etc. Indeed, we get people coming in who seem baffled - "Where's the quiet area?"

Although I am all for libraries not being precious places designed to scare people away, I have to say that when travelling I have visited libraries, museums and art galleries the way other people visit churches, for a peaceful moment of retreat from the hustle and bustle. In fact, I guess (as a Humanist) I perceive libraries as a place where we show respect for human knowledge and achievement, as well as a place for contemplation of the big ideas.

So I do think the designers missed an opportunity when they didn't build in a quiet spot. We can't even offer Muslims a place to pray any more (they often ask for the quiet corner).

I remember when I did a hard hat visit to the British Library when it moved to St Pancras - and there was a little glassed-in room. I asked what it was for, and they said for people using those new-fangled laptop things, as the tapping of keys annoyed other users. By the time the library opened almost everyone was using laptops, and the little glass room was set aside for the pencil pushers!

Of course, as staff and users were not asked for their opinion these things seem not to have been considered.
Some kind of compromise might have been best. For instance, you could have had a mixture of

• collaborative spaces where group conversation is allowed
• considerate areas, where quiet exchanges should be kept to a minimum
• quiet areas where conversation and mobile phones are forbidden.

Such arrangements can be found in some US university libraries. Why did our award-winning designer not think of these things? Far too late now that we live and work in a open-plan space where I can say something loudly on the 5th floor and be heard on the Ground Floor. Hey ho. So it goes. (Vonnegut)

Searching Questions

I do find it odd that people still treat the Internet as an unreliable resource for facts. Many library staff don't seem to trust Wikipedia, for instance.

Of course, in a market place you have to watch your purse, not buy any old thing unexamined, or get too excited by someone on a soapbox, but generally you can find what you want if you take your time.

As ever, I don't think of things in black and white. The OED and Encyclopedias may well have gone through fact-checking editors, etc , and can present relatively objective facts - but even Encyclopedias don't always agree on those 'facts'.

“Certitude belongs exclusively to those who only own one encyclopedia.” - Robert Anton Wilson

I do use these old reliable resources for simple matters of fact like the date of a king's coronation.

Bare facts, or fine detail?

For detailed research, however, the internet (taking Wikipedia as a perfect example) has compilations of detail that Encyclopedias (in their necessary compression and brevity) can't possibly compete with.

Taking an example from my own knowledge base, I checked out 'Juggling' (no entry, but found 'Juggler') in the Encyclopedia Britannica, and got a not very helpful 289 words or so, mostly about circus.

In Wikipedia you find a Juggling entry written by experts - with not only the speculative history of origins, lists of famous jugglers and their feats, but also the history of the last few decades when this obscure skill or art form became a hugely popular pastime as well as developing rapidly in both the entertainment world (skill levels have rocketed) and in the nutty, obsessive Guinness Book of Records mode. Links to animations and videos on how to learn; links to books, classes, and other deeper resources like the Internet Juggling Database (which includes lists like 'every film ever made with a juggling scene in it, or even a background character juggling).

Contribute to knowledge

Now not all those facts prove accurate (I had to correct the number of people at the first juggling convention, because I attended as one of the participants, and had first-hand knowledge). But the wiki structure means I CAN correct and tweak these facts. And yes, I gather people sometimes get territorial about certain areas of Wikipedia (much the way academics used to form a closed shop to alternative theories, while writing up their 'objective' encyclopedia entries!)

Learn to assess information

So even if some 'facts' online have got lazily copied and pasted around, have lost their source reference, or become misquoted - for inspiration justifying further search and verification it seems hard to fault the Web.

Training in assessing results, judging and estimating the value of information sources and resources, etc seem an extremely useful part of any future educational projects. Surely the combination of detective and investigative journalist could appear inviting to inquisitive children, if their exams didn't get based around finding 'the right answer' or 'the truth'.

The sooner people discover that 'hard facts' rarely prove that simple or obvious, and we all learn to hold back from jumping to conclusions or relying on just one Book or source of knowledge to the exclusion of others - and see what we know in terms of probabilities rather than certainties - the sooner we may achieve a more intelligent, tolerant, generous world. IMHO.

I thank you for listening to this rant.

[The speaker climbs down from his soapbox, picks it up and walks away].